scorecard

No we don't do safety devices, you think too much.

My reaction : I don't want to own any type of gun and I hope many PR holders / all foreigners living in Thailand have a similar opinion. But of course 'each to his own'. ______________________________________________________ For me the bottom line: I saw a lot of death, limbs shot off, severe dismemberment etc., during my time as a soldier in the war in Vietnam. I don't want to touch or see any type of weapon for the rest of my life. When I returned home my dad instantly announced he wanted to take me (just him and me) on a trip together for a few days in the countryside. 'We can have a great time shooting kangaroos and rabbits etc*.' and he then showed me that he had thoroughly cleaned his 2 shotguns and 2 rifles, ready for the trip. *Reality is he shocked me because this type of activity was way off his normal thinking and behaviors. He had never bought a weapon, all 4 mentioned above were given to him by elderly uncles, his grandfather etc., and basically never fired. Handling weapons and shooting anything was the absolute last thing I wanted to do on return from a war zone and for the rest of my life. In fact I was desperate to spend calm private time with my wife and baby daughter, I spoke further about this to my more astute mother and asked her to politely ask family members to not organize 'welcome home parties'. I told my mother to tell family members why and she did and shared that people were initially shocked 'but what about our party' but quickly understood what she had shared. What other Viet vets (and soldiers returning from any/all wars) desired when they returned home i don't know and of course it's their choice. Initially my dad was shocked and hurt that I rejected his plan of a 'shooting trip together' but within a few hours he said privately that he had given the whole subject more throught and he understood and wished that he had not planned the trip.'

It seems to me that many foreigners (incl Aussies) seem to quickly take on a new/different set of driving behaviors/standards as soon as they behind the wheel in Thailand. The reality is that all Aussies are well aware, because of driver training standards and practice, police monitoring of drivers and quick to pull up and charge all drivers behaving even a little outside of the laws and regulations. And fines/cancellation of license is savage. Driving when their license is cancelled get very severe punishments even jail. Cancellation of license for life happens. Also they know how difficult it is to pass the practical (driving) tests. They are totally aware of the rules of the road, and what constitutes suitable/accepable and unacceptable driving behaviors. But they come to Thailand and they instantly adopt a whole different appraoch and mindset. What a shame.

E.G: 1). Many members will recall there's been many break in at Army camps and many guns stolen over at least several decades. 2).The report here about 2 years back re an ex policeman who had sold 172 assorted handguns to teenagers in Pattaya in the preceeding 6 months. He had bought the handguns from various illegal sources, including 'sell/give me your handgun and i'll get the investigation your subject to dropped ...'. 3). I asked for a management consultant from the US with special economics analysis skills to join my team in Bkk for a week. He came, never been outside of the US before this assignment. He arrived at our office about 9:00 am on first day, as expected. Opened his brief case and put a handgun on the desk. Staff all stood back and called me. I asked "Why did you bring this handgun into the office?" He launched into a loud spiel about his handgun being confiscated when he boarded his aircraft in the US, and about "I have no intention of walking around anywhere / any country without a sidearm." I asked him where he got it, His response "I asked at the hotel lobby where I could quickly buy a handgun, the lobby staff didn't really understand 'handgun' so he quickly found a photo using his smartphone, then they suggested he go to Jatujuk market and ask there, he did that and 20 minutes later back in the taxi and back to his hotel with his purchase, no documents whatever. He didn't show the handgun to any hotel staff. I explained (had to insist) that he could not go our clients office ( a very big very profesional Thai company) with a handgun in his bag. He wanted to call his office in the US to demand they tell me it was all OK. I refused to engage in any such discussion and made it clear he had 2 choices 'lock the gun in our company safe or take the next flight back to the US.' He put it in our safe but he wasn't given the combination details. Late that afternoon I asked him 'what are you going to do with the handgun when you leave Thailand? He responded 'put it in my cabin bag'. I assured him he wouldn't get the gun through the security check before boarding which produced the typical 'nobody tells me what to do'. He then indicated he would put it in his check-in bag. But when he got back to the US he discovered the locks on his suitcase had been opened and the bag taped shut with many metres of duct tape and the gun had been removed. I have no details where the handgun was removed from his suitcase but I suspect it was removed at Bangkok airport.

And how would all this 'arrangement' play out if: - There's a more thorough investigation which openly highlighs that 'the wife did it' is not physically possible? - The corrupt cop suddenly wants a a big fat envelope to continue his 'support'? - The corrupt cop dies in a car accident or from sudden severe sickness etc? - ....

Power and his view of his entitlement.

My understanding is that free boosters (Moderna) are available for Thai and foreigners at Airport Plaza on Saturdays and Sundays. Can someone please confirm whether this is correct. Thanks.

Can any member share some specific fully correct and up to dat information as to these subjects here in Thailand. Absolutely NOT looking for opinions of what 'should be', looking for factual details of the current laws, etc. Thanks for sharing.